U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Private industry workplace injury and illness rate unchanged in 2011

October 31, 2012

In 2011, nearly 3.0 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported by private industry employers, resulting in an incidence rate of 3.5 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers. The rate reported for 2011 was unchanged for the first time in a decade, after declining signficantly from 2002 to 2010.

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting was one of only two private industry sectors to experience a statistically significant increase in the rate of injuries and illnesses in 2011 compared with 2010, driven by increases in cases in both the crop production and animal production (primarily dairy cattle and milk production) industries. The rate of injuries and illnesses for the accommodation and food services sector also rose in 2011, driven largely by an increase in both limited-service restaurants and full-service restaurants.

Two private industry sectors experienced statistically significant declines in the rate of injuries and illnesses in 2011 compared with 2010--health care and social assistance (driven by declines both in hospitals and in nursing and residential care facilities) and retail trade (with large declines in cases among supermarkets and other grocery stores and several other industries).

Approximately 820,900 injury and illness cases were reported among state and local government workers in 2011, resulting in a rate of 5.7 cases per 100 full-time workers—significantly higher than the rate among private industry workers (3.5 cases per 100 workers), and unchanged from the rate reported among these public sector workers in 2010. Nearly 4 in 5 injuries and illnesses reported in the public sector occurred among local government workers in 2011, resulting in an injury and illness rate of 6.1 cases per 100 full-time workers—significantly higher than the 4.6 cases per 100 full-time workers in state government.